Beverage flavoring device



June 14, 1966 M. SCHWARTZ ETAL 3,255,691

BEVERAGE FLAVORING DEVICE Filed June 21, 1961 IN VEN TORS M419/ 0S SC/WTZ, By JSEP/Y )W6/VE@ Arrow/f United States Patent O 3,255,691 BEVERAGE FLAVORING DEVICE Marius Schwartz, 20225 Stansbury, Detroit, Mich., and Joseph Wagner, 244041 Condon, Oak Park, Mich. Filed June 21, 1961, Ser. No. 118,695 2 Claims. (Cl. 99--275)` This invention relates to a device for flavoring bevera ges and more particularly to an attachment for a pressurized container of carbonated water which imparts a color and avor to the water as it is dispensed from the container.

Dispensing containers for carbonated Water which are charged to pressures in excess of 100 p.s.i. are presently in common use. These containers employ a Siphon tube which has its lower end disposed adjacent to the bottom of the container and which has its upper end connected to a dispensing nozzle through a normally closed, manually actuated valve. The valve assembly is attached to the bottle in a permanent manner in order to simplify the seal between the bottle and the valve which must withstand the high pressure of the carbonated water. It is therefore only possible to clean the bottle by injecting and removing a` cleaning fluid through the dispensing valve. Since pure carbonated water is employe-d in the bottle this cleaning procedure is perfectly adequate. However, this cleaning procedure is not adequate if fiavorings or colorings are added to the water since these dry on the interior sides of the bottle after the liquid is dispensed and are difficult to remove therefrom.

Since flavorings and colorings are desirable additives to the unfiavored highly pressurized water the present invention has as its object to provide a device which will add coloring and fiavoring to the pure carbonated water as it is dispensed from Iits bottle.

Previously, devices have been created for imparting coloring and flavoring to carbonated water which is contained in pop bottles at low pressures. rIhe contents of these bottles are removed by gravity rather than the beverages own pressure and such devices have been produced which are disposed in the flow path of the beverage as it falls out of the container so as to impart coloring and flavoring thereto. Such devices have not been adaptable to use with a highly pressurized beverage 'because of the different nature of their ow from the bottle.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention which will subsequently be described in detail comprises a hollow cylindrical member which has an opening at one end that is adapted to be press tted about a downwardly inclined dispensing nozzle of a Siphon bottle which has a manually operable shut-off valve. `At its lower end the cylindrical chamber terminates in a fine mesh filter. A flavoring and coloring agent, preferably in solid form, is disposed in the chamber directly above the filter. Means are provided below the filter to shut off the end of the cylinder to prevent dripping. When the valve is opened the pressurized fluid is forced through the avoring media and out the filter end, picking up the coloring and flavoring as it washes the soluble flavoring media.

In an alternate embodiment of the invention a plurality of avors are provided in sections which occupy adjacent radial sectors of the mixing cylinder. Means are provided for directing the fluid passage through a particular one of these flavor chambers.

It is therefore seen to be a primary lobject of the present invention to provide a device which may be attached to a downward depending nozzle of a lbottle which contains pure carbonated water under a pressure sufficient to allow the liquid to be dispensed upon the `opening of a valve.

It is an object of the invention to provide such an attachrnent which directs the beverage through a flow path 3,255,69l Patented June I4, 1966 ICC which is blocked by a soluble avoring and coloring medium which allows the water to pass only after intimate admixture with the avoring.

Other objectives, advantages and applications of the present invention will be made apparent by lthe following detailed description of two embodiments of the invention. The -description makes reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Y

FIGURE 1 is a view of a `first embodiment of the invention attached to a Siphon bottle, the device being shown in Ilongitudinal cross section;

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view of the embodiment Iof FIGURE l indicating the manner of opening of the device under pressure. p

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of a second ernbodiment of the invention which is capa-ble of dispensing any of four flavors;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 yis a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIGURE 3 taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of embodiment of FIGURE 3 taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 3.

The device is adapted to be used in connection with a high strength glass bottle 10 which has a vertical siphon tube 12, extending along its central axis. The upper end of the tube 12 connects with a Valve structure 14 which is normally closed and may be opened by depressing the lever 16 so as to allow fluid to flow up the tube 12 and out of a downwardly inclined dispensing nozzle 18. The first embodiment of the invention comprises a generally cylindrical end section 2t) which is formed of plastic and has an interior opening 22 of a diameter slightly smaller than the external diameter of the nozzle 13 so that it may be press fitted about that nozzle. A shoulder 24 disposed at the end of the cylindrical section 20 aids in placing and removing the attachment on the nozzle. The shoulder may have a knurled face 26.

At its lower end the cylinder 20 `is formed into an outwardly bulging section 2S which terminates at its lower end with a fine mesh plastic filter which has its ends imbedded in the interior walls of the device so as to extend transversly across a cylindrical lopening 32. The chamber 28 is filled with any common flavoring and/or coloring medium 34 which is highly soluble in water and which preferably takes a granular form although porous solids may also be employed with the preferred embodiment.

The lower termination of the dispensing end 32 is normally closed off by a pair of flaps 36 which extend from the two sides of the dispensing end 32 in a transverse direction across the end of the cylindrical dispensing end 32. When in a relaxed position the aps contact each other so as to seal off the end.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the operation of the flaps 36 when pressured fluid passes through the attachment as a `result of a valve 14 being opened. The fluid flows from the nozzle 18 at a relatively high speed and thoroughly mixes with the fiavoring and/ or coloring medium 34 before passing through the filter 30. The pressure of the flow separates the flaps 36 so that the flavored, colored uid passes out of the nozzle formed by the partly opened flaps into a drinking container. After the valve 14 is closed the resulting drop in pressure allows the aps 36 to reclose to prevent any dripping from the device.

The device preferably contains enough flavoring for the entire contents of one bottle of carbonated water 10. It is formed of a low cost material so that it may be disposed after use.

The device may be sold with a plug in the nozzle end 22 to prevent the flavoring 34 from spilling through that end. The filter 30 is a fine enough mesh to prevent the und'issolved avoring from passing through.

FIGURE 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the device which is adapted to provide any of four flavors. The device has a cylindrical upper chamber 38 with a central opening 40 adapted to be press iitted about the dispensing bottle nozzle 18. As may be seen in FIGURE 5 the lower end of the chamber 38 has a single wedge shaped opening 42 which extends radially from the center. The upper cylinder 38 also has an outer shoulder 44 which aids in engaging the nozzle 18.

The entire upper chamber 38 is rotatable about a center column 46 which `forms a section of a lower flavoring chamber 48. The avoring chamber contains four radial segments 50 each of which is filled with a different tlavoring and/or coloring medium 52. The lower end of each chamber 50 is enclosed by a line mesh iilter 54. Except for the opening 42, the chamber 3S is sealed from the chambers 50 by a bulkhead 56. The upper chamber 40 may be rotated with respect to the lower chamber 48 so as to bring the opening 42 into coincidence with any of the four avoring chambers 50. Indicia 58 on the outer sides of the chambers 38 and 48 indicate which avor the opening 42 is aligned with.

When pressurized water is passed through the nozzle 18 it is directed by the opening 42 to one of the four chambers Si) and passes through that chamber by permeating the avoring and picking up its dissolved avoring and coloring. It then passes through the filter 52 into a drinking container.

A sucient amount of avoring is disposed in each of the chambers to flavor and color a single glass of beverage. Thus a bottle 10 which contains four glasses may be iiavored and colored to four separate states.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. The combination with a pressurized dispensing syphon tube bottle for avored carbonated beverage waters, of 'a cylindrical compartmented mixing receptacle attachment casing unit having an opening in the top wall thereof for receiving said syphon tube and a bottom opening for dispensing a flavored beverage passing therethrough, the receptacle casing including an upper stationary chamber and a lower chamber connected in rotatable sealing relation with said upper chamber to form the completed receptacle unit, a plurality of avor containing compartments formed in said rotatable casing chamber, an apertured disc closure member forming a bottom wall for said, stationary chamber and a top wall for said rotatable flavor containing compartments, whereby communication shall be had between the top compartment and each one of the separate lower flavor containing compartments when brought into registry with :the aperture in said bottom forming disc to provide a passage for avored iluid through said receptacle casing.

Z. Apparatus of the character described in claim 1 in-v cluding means on the rotatable casing part for indicating the registry of the aperture with each one of the movable compartments.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 193,775 7/1877 Nugent 210-449 411,037 9/1889 Jones 99-291 X 565,922 8/1896 PraX 99-275 959,110 4/1910 Buck 99-302 2,078,013 4/1937 Nutry 99--275 X 2,090,977 8/1937 Hoffman 99-275 X 2,402,741 6/1946 Draviner 239--602 X 2,565,246 4/1951 Lehmkuhl 137-268 X 2,690,930 10/1954 Corson 210-449 X 2,862,440 12/1958 Oakes 99-282 2,975,925 3/1961 Chambers 206-0.5 X 3,035,779 5/1962 Convis 239-602 X WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

NORTON ANSHER, ROBERT E. PULFREY, Examiners.

G. P. CHANDLER, STANLEY P. FISHER, Assistant Examiners. 

1. THE COMBINATION WITH A PRESSURIZED DISPENSING SYPHON TUBE BOTTLE FOR FLAVORED CARBONATED BEVERAGE WATERS, OF A CYLINDRICAL COMPARTMENTED MIXING RECEPTACLE ATTACHMENT CASING UNIT HAVING AN OPENING IN THE TOP WALL THEREOF FOR RECEIVING SAID SYPHON TUBE AND A BOTTOM OPENING FOR DISPENSING A FLAVORED BEVERAGE PASSING THERETHROUGH, THE RECEPTACLE CASING INCLUDNG AN UPPER STATIONARY CHAMBER AND A LOWER CHAMBER CONNECTED IN ROTATABLE SEALING RELATION WITH SAID UPPER CHAMBER TO FORM THE COMPLETED RECEPTACLE UNIT, A PLURALITY OF FLAVOR CONTAINING COMPARTMENTS FORMED IN SAID ROTATABLE CASING CHAMBER, AND APERTURED DISC CLOSURE MEMBER FORMING A BOTTOM WALL FOR SAID STATIONARY CHAMBER AND A TOP WALL FOR SAID ROTATABLE FLAVOR CONTAINING COMPARTMENTS, WHEREBY COMMMUNICATION SHALL BE HAD BETWEEN THE TOP COMPARTMENTS AND EACH ONE OF THE SEPARATE LOWER FLAVOR CONTAINING COMPARTMENTS WHEN BROUGHT INTO REGISTRY WITH THE APERTURE IN SAID BOTTOM FORMING DISC TO PROVIDE A PASSAGE FOR FLAVORED FLUID THROUGH SAID RECEPTACLE CASING. 